Berlusconi's antics deserve our censure

As a political defence goes, it has the merit of being irrefutable: "I'm no saint," said Silvio Berlusconi, Italian prime minister, in response to an ongoing scandal around the release of tapes purporting to capture him having sex with a prostitute.

While Mr Berlusconi is, in the words of one opposition leader, trapped in his own reality TV show, the affair needn't stop him from continuing to serve as PM.

Plenty of reasons have been cited for his apparent immunity: the scandal burnishes the macho credentials that appeal to some of his supporters; Italy is used to corruption; enough voters prefer stability and brazenness under Mr Berlusconi to instability and hypocrisy under past premiers.

Besides, Mr Berlusconi has weathered scandals that include allegations far more sinister than cavorting with call girls.

While it is true that Italian politics has its own peculiar dynamics, cultural exceptionalism does not excuse rotten government. The real scandal is the way the story has been suppressed.

Mr Berlusconi controls enough Italian media outlets to stymie negative reporting. Where he does not directly own newspapers and TV stations, he owns companies that control advertising revenue. News of the sex scandal has been limited to a few websites and one major newspaper - La Repubblica. Mr Berlusconi has described its coverage as "subversive".

Meanwhile, in the entirely hypothetical event that some evidence of serious wrongdoing should emerge, Mr Berlusconi is safe from prosecution under a law he himself introduced.

Does it matter if Italian democracy is warped in this way? It is certainly sad to witness. But more important, Italy is still an influential power - currently chair of the G8 and a major player in the EU with a big economy inside the euro zone. Fellow European countries should be less forgiving of a partner who brings their club into such disrepute. Would other EU leaders tolerate, in a country applying for membership today, a situation where civil society is so flagrantly bent to the will of the prime minister? Surely not.

Mr Berlusconi may try to protect himself from criticism inside Italy; he should not enjoy any such immunity abroad.